Are You Crazy?
by superpsychtime
Summary: Sometimes people do crazy things for others. Dean is one of those people.
1. An Unexpected Turn

As he took a shortcut through the forest to get back to his motel room, Dean knew he was not alone. His suspicion was even confirmed every few minutes when he'd hear a rustle in the leaves, or a twig snap. Sure, it could have just been an innocent woodland creature, perhaps a rabbit that was following him, but his instincts knew better and his gut told him otherwise. He knew he was being hunted, but by what? He wasn't in the right forest for it to be a wendigo, a shapeshifter would have made the stalking more obvious, and any other creature or spirit would have already attacked by now.

_Maybe it's a new son of a gun _Dean thought as a shiver went down his spine. His day had already been filled to the brim with ganking monsters and he was positive that he didn't have enough energy nor the right weaponry to kill any new type of monsters. Not today anyway.

Against his better judgement, Dean continued on through the forest, slightly quickening his pace. He didn't want to break out into a run yet and give whatever it was that was following him a nice chase before it ate/killed/maimed him.

When he heard a larger stick break, followed by the rustle of leaves, indicating that whatever was obviously following him wanted to be acknowledged, he gave in. He turned around and yelled, "Okay smart aleck you can come out now! We both know you want some of this, but you're gonna have to earn it first!" Dean hoped his light taunting would help to draw out the monster, not anger it.

Judging by how furious the sounds of the following growls he heard were, it was clear that he got the latter. Despite his instinct to run, Dean remained calm. Even though there was the astoundingly high chance that he could die in those woods, he still remained, relatively, calm.

Slowly, he reached into his pocket to take out his gun with one hand, and with the other he patted his back pocket to make sure the demon blade was still there. He knew those weapons would most likely be of no use, but he still liked to have the comfort of them being there.

That's when he felt it. That tingly sensation, like someone's behind you. He whipped his head around so fast that he almost bumped into the stranger standing behind him, proving his assumptions to be correct. Dean stumbled backward, away from the strange human who seemed to come out of no where. Well, at least what looked like a human.

The guy Dean was now face to face with bore a cream colored trenchcoat, one that was so big it practically drowned the rest of his body. Stubble speckled his chin and surrounded his pink, chapped lips. On the top of his head sat a mop of disheveled, unruly dark brown hair. He was about Dean's height, albeit a bit shorter.

His most intriguing feature, however, was none other than his piercing blue eyes. They were such a vivid blue that they intensified his hold on Dean. His knitted brow added even more hatred to his glare, which sent chills through Dean's entire body.

Suddenly Dean noticed their close proximity, that they were only mere inches apart, but before he could break the uncomfortable silence, the mysterious stranger pinned him against a tree, knocking the wind out of him. It all happened so fast that Dean was temporarily dazed, trying to process what just happened. When he returned to his senses, he began to violently kick at the man, since his hands were being pinned down.

He put all of his power into his kicks, but they were more or less ignored by the guy. In fact, they had no effect on him at all as he continued to hold Dean to the tree and stare through him. Feeling defeated, and more than a bit uncomfortable, Dean stopped kicking. Once he had done so, the man took that as his cue to start the inevitable conversation.

"Who are you?" the stranger said, "State your name and purpose." The gruffness of his voice was enough to leave Dean slightly taken aback, but he quickly found his voice.

"The name's Dean Winchester," he boasted, "You may have heard of me and my brother, Sam. Yeah, we're the guys monsters like you have nightmares about, so I would suggest you let me go." He decided to throw in his real name for good measure because he was a freakin' _Winchester _and that had to count for something. He and Sam had to have slaughtered hundreds of different types of monsters in their time, and if nothing else, he wanted to provoke some fear into his potential kidnapper.

The stranger did not loosen his grip on Dean, nor did he break eye contact, but instead he cocked his head to the side and smirked. "Silly insignificant human," he growled, "Are you actually trying to intimidate me?" His smirk turned into a full blown toothy grin, but nevertheless, it was still menacing. "Try and put this through that thick skull of yours," his hand shot up to grasp Dean's neck as he hissed his threat through gritted teeth, "There is absolutely nothing stopping me from bleeding you dry right now." His grip on Dean's throat gradually got tighter as he threatened his prey.

_So it's a vampire, _Dean thought, with an odd sense of relief. At least it was something he knew how to handle. Of course, he didn't have the right tools for handling it, but at least he had a good idea of what the vampire was thinking. Despite the fact that he was getting dizzy from lack of oxygen, he began to think of his next move while he slowly reached for the demon knife with his free hand. The vampire quickly caught on and moved his hand from his throat to swiftly pin down his wandering hand, quick as a flash.

Even though he was in quite a complicated situation, Dean still had an essence of calmness to him, a state in which those near death can feel. He couldn't quite put his finger on why not even a hint of adrenaline was rushing through his veins, but in general he was finding it hard to concentrate. The vampire's sharp sapphire eyes were staring daggers into his green ones, and Dean would be lying if he said he didn't find that more than a bit endearing. As he stared into his eyes to find something other than pure hatred, and found nothing, they still possessed the ability to be tranquil in a way Dean couldn't wrap his head around.

"If you're as big and bad as you say you are," Dean said, feeling conquered, "Then why haven't you ended me all ready?"

The vampire, to the surprise of Dean, lowered his arm from pinning his chest and took a step back. He tilted his head to other side while he kept his perplexed expression, along with the intense eye contact, and said, "What? You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

At first Dean figured his question to be rhetorical, but the silence and staring that followed told him otherwise. While he contemplated his answer, he took a moment to swallow in an attempt to ease his dramatically dry throat when suddenly, the vampire jerked his head to the right, breaking their staring contest. He stared off into the distance for several seconds, as if listening for something. He looked back at Dean and said, "My brethren are coming. Soon they will pick up your scent, and when they do, they will deliberately suck you dry, ever so slowly. When they see that I haven't done so all ready, I'll have a most... unpleasant consequence. We must hide immediately," and with that, the vampire started heading off in the other direction.

The urgency in his voice told Dean that it was probably best to follow, but why should he trust a vampire? He hadn't heard any suspicious noises, and for all he knew the vampire could've been lying to him simply to lead him to a nest of blood suckers.

"No." Dean said defiantly, crossing his arms for good measure and not caring that it made him look like a child about to throw a tantrum.

The trench coat wearing vampire spun around to face the human. "No?" he whispered. "No!?" he said a bit louder that time. He took a step forward and jabbed his index finger into Dean's chest as he growled, "Now listen here Mr. Dean Winchester." Dean took a shuddering breath to compensate for their closeness. It wasn't even that he was afraid, he figured, it was just... something else. "When someone like me gives you the opportunity to save yourself," he clenched a fistful of Dean's shirt for emphasis, "It would be wise of you to take it."

He released Dean from his grasp once more and Dean released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Without waiting for a response, the vampire grabbed Dean by the hand and pulled him through the forest, away from the oncoming threat. They moved at amazing speed, due to the vampiric strength, and soon they were in a completely different part of the forest. The leaves had shifted color, it was significantly colder and Dean could smell the vague smell of popcorn, indicating that there was human life nearby.

He realized that even though they were relatively safe, the vampire was stil holding his hand tightly, almost possesively. He pulled away his hand to scratch his head and look around, but not before blush stained his cheeks.

"So um," he stammered, trying to look anywhere except at the vampire, who he could feel staring at him, "What now?"

The vampire knit his eyebrows together again and Dean swore that if he didn't cut that out his face would get stuck that way. "What now?" he repeated, "Now you go back to where you once came and I never see you again."

Dean's chest clenched a little at the words, but he chose to ignore that. "Well I guess this is it then."

The vampire's expression softened slightly as he said, "Yes, I um, suppose it is."

After an awkward pause, Dean outstretched his hand, suggesting that they get properly aquatinted. The vampire stared at his hand, as if contemplating what to do with it, until finally he took it in his own hand and shook.

"So um, yeah you know my name, and I guess this is it Mr..."

"Castiel."

Dean swallowed the urge to make fun of his silly name, not wanting to anger him further. "Castiel," he tested it on his tongue, "Interesting name." He bit on his lip to refrain from laughing.

Castiel, who most likely sensed the human's amusement, tightened his grip on Dean's hand, causing him to yelp in pain. "It was given to me by the Council, and it means shield of God. If I were you I would think twice about gigging." He finally released Dean's hand, much to Dean's relief.

"I was not giggling," Dean protested, "Men don't giggle."

"Well," Castiel said as he crossed his arms and smiled smugly, "You must not be a man then."

_That's it,_ Dean thought,_ I don't care If he is a vampire I am going to punch this guy in the throat._ Castiel's smile did nothing but grow wider as he whipped around and headed away from Dean, into the forest and back to his brethren.


	2. A Task Like No Other

He tossed and turned that night as his mind bounced between deep sleep and vivid nightmares. Not of the vampire, surprisingly, but instead the nightmares consisted of all the other terrors he saw and killed on a daily basis. Demons and Wendigos danced a dance of death inside his head as they killed his brother Sam over and over, all of them laughing their cruel, menacing laughter. Sometimes the nightmares got so intense that he would actually wake up screaming and drenched in sweat.

And that's exactly what he did that night. He dreamed that somehow Sam, who's eyes revealed that he was a demon, got hold of his demon knife and had him pinned down and was seconds away from slashing Dean's throat. Then, out of nowhere, Cas appeared behind Sam, gave Dean a gesture to remain quiet, and then he swiftly bit down into demon Sam's neck, draining him of blood within seconds.

When he abruptly woke up, he was panting. As he struggled to get his heart rate back to normal, an idea came to him. He needed a way to repay that vampire for being so uncharacteristically kind and saving his already doomed life. He knew that a thank-you card was too simple, and yet a bouquet of flowers was a plain no. His mind was racing the day before with all the possibilities he could pursue, until finally, he came to one idea. In fact, it was so obviously perfect that he was amazed that he only just now had been thinking about it. His idea started with the fact that:

Vampires need blood.

That much was easy to understand. Blood to a vampire was like pie to Dean; a necessity to survive. He figured that since the vampire let him go yesterday, it was pretty unlikely that he got his required daily blood percentage. For some crazy, messed up reason, this actually made Dean feel bad.

Don't get him wrong, he was more than glad that people weren't getting attacked by too many vampires, he was freakin' overjoyed even.

However, the vampire had been so nice that his plan to help just seemed like the right thing to do.

Figuring that he had no chance of getting back to sleep, Dean decided to get out of bed completely. While he went through his morning routine, he pieced together the details of his plan.

As he let his pancakes cook until they were solid enough to flip, he picked up his cell phone and instinctively dialed his brother Sam's number. He had a hunch that despite the early hour his brother would still answer his phone, and after three rings, his theory was proven correct.

"Hello?" Came the sleep heavy answer.

"Rise and shine Sammy, I need your help."

Dean heard Sam groan and what sounded like a mumbled curse. This made him smile slightly.

"Dean it's freakin' five a.m. What use could I possibly be of to you?" Sam yawned loudly for an added measure to emphasize underline and italicize how tired he was.

Unfortunately, Dean did not get the message.

"Listen little bro I'm gonna need you to sweet talk that wife of yours, I'm kind of in a situation." Dean tried to sound completely casual, but he knew that Sam could always see right through him.

Sam furrowed his brow as he glanced to look at his sleeping wife, who was currently a mess of blonde curls and quiet, soft snoring.

"What can Jess help you with?"

"Well, it's like this Sammy," Dean started, rather uncertainly, "She still works at that blood bank right?"

* * *

Seven arguments, six compromises, and one burnt pancake later, Dean's plan was nearly complete. Although he had expected Sam to argue with him about why "borrowing" a few bags of blood was bad and then to hear Sam and Jess arguing about whether or not they wanted to help, he didn't predict that Jess would have actually wanted to talk to him directly.

Arguing with someone as sweet and fragile as Jess was like telling a child they're about to die. There's no logical way to do it.

"Oh Dean," cooed Jess in that sweet, sweet voice of her's, "Now just what is this all about stealing blood I hear?" Dean tried to explain that he wanted to simply reward a vampire by giving him a bag or two of blood while not sounding like a madman, which was no easy task.

"Good heavens!" Jess exclaimed, kind of sarcastically, Dean noted, "Seems like a rather peculiar vamp you got on your hands. Based on the way you described him, this seems very important to you... I'll be happy to help Dean!"

Her agreement to help both relieved and confused Dean. Why had the way he described Cas been what sold her? What the crap was she implying? Had it been because he hadn't called Cas a good for nothing, blood sucking vampire? Maybe she had presumed they were friends because of how he may or may not have lingered on the description of his eyes for a bit too long, perhaps. Had his mutual respect for the guy come off as admiration? Whatever the reason, Dean was just glad that he would soon have a gift to rid him of the obligation he felt towards his acquaintance.


	3. The Peace Offering

Cas could smell a fresh victim as well as a bloodhound could smell, well, anything. His nose sniffed rapidly and his mouth salivated heavily. His stomach grumbled and twisted as he was reminded that he hadn't had a fresh, living, human kill in what felt like months.

None of his brethren had chosen to only feed off of animals, so why did he? For some unfathomable reason, Cas simply felt sorry for the poor, defenseless humans and couldn't stand watching them fight for their lives, only to achieve nothing but an increased heart rate, satisfying the predator even more. Cas especially didn't like the blood curdling screams the stupid prey would make even though their fate was inevitable. He kept telling himself that these were the parts he despised, when in actuality, these were the best parts.

He wasn't hunting because he missed it, he could go at least a month or so, but he hunted because he needed it. His body was starting to get twitchy and paranoid, he felt fatigued more often than not, and as he tried to live amongst the humans he would notice that his fangs were out at the oddest times, as if they had a mind of their own. He wasn't about to feed for his selfish needs, but really he was just taking one for the team. Better he fed now than wait until it was too late and totally flip out, killing everything in sight.

He crept up upon the human, staying a few yards behind him. The scent of blood was so strong it basically stabbed his nose and tickled his fangs with lust.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he inched behind the human. His back was towards Castiel, which was perfect considering what was about happen. A voice in the back of mind tried to tell him that this was a bad idea, that so many deaths in the same place would raise suspicion and they'd get found out, but that little voice was being smothered by a different voice telling him to _hurry up already_. And so he continued to approach the man with the dirty blonde hair, careful to not make unneeded noise and scare off his prey.

It was weird really, the man was just standing there, as if he was waiting for something. The way the man held himself sparked an air of familiarity inside Cas, but he was too hungry to concentrate on it. Now he was about a yard or so behind the human. He adjusted his footing as he got ready to more or less pounce on his soon to be dinner. His vampiric strength kicked in as he ran over to his prey. In the split second before he made contact with the human, the guy turned around, revealing Dean's face.

Cas quickly closed his mouth, but it was too late to stop his running. He tackled Dean to the ground, making him groan from the impact.

"Dude," Dean wheezed. He found it hard to talk after having the wind knocked out of him, and the fact that Castiel was still on his chest didn't help the situation either. "If I would've known you were gonna get all excited and hug me, I would've taken the time to wear a helmet." Castiel, who was feeling extremely weak from not having his necessary blood refill, slowly pushed himself off of Dean's chest.

When his eye caught Dean's, he paused and exclaimed, "Dean!? What are you doing here? You were to never come back here."

Upon realizing that Cas was still very much on top of him, Dean's cheeks betrayed him as they burned bright red, forcing him to advert his eyes. "What? How could I resist someone as charming as you?," he said sarcastically as he started to get up.

Cas got up before he did and then put his hand out for Dean to grab. Dean eyed his hand suspiciously for a second, a bit caught off guard by the simple gesture of kindness. He reasoned that this was just another way the guy made sure there were no hard feelings, so he accepted the hand to help him up.

Once he was upright, he dusted the dirt off of his pants and walked toward the bag on the ground. Cas had not noticed the bag until that moment, so he tilted his head and eyed it with confusion. Dean picked up the bag and saw him in that adorable yet confused expression of his, which caused him to smile for a second.

Dean cleared his throat before he started. "So uh," he said, "I uh, wanted to um..." Why was it so hard talking to this guy? In general Dean was as charismatic as the next guy, but when it came to talking to Cas his mouth didn't seem to know what to do and his thoughts scattered. _It's probably because he's a flippin' vampire,_ Dean thought.

His arm automatically thrust out the bag before he told Cas what was inside. "I uh wanted to thank you for not killing me and stuff so yeah." His words came out very fast and mumbled and he wondered if Cas even heard him. Based off of his still perplexed face, he guessed not.

Nevertheless, Cas reached out and took the bag, much to Dean's relief. As he opened the bag, Dean watched in slight amusement as his eyes got wide when he saw the contents.

"Blood!?"


	4. The Freaks Come Out at Night

Castiel did not like to be surprised. He saw being caught off guard as a form of weakness, and the word 'weak' and 'vampire' should definitely not be in the same sentence. He hated surprises as much as he hated werewolves, and his new human acquaintance was really starting to tick him off.

He stared at the bag in his hands, mouth slightly agape, and contemplated what he should do. It was filled with a bunch of smaller bags of blood and he could just feel the drool pool up in his mouth. He knew Dean was looking at him with expectant eyes, waiting for him to say something. A 'thank-you', perhaps.

"Dean I, um, appreciate this, I do, but-" he had to advert his eyes at this point to avoid Dean's almost brokenhearted and confused gaze. "I, I can't accept this," he whispered.

_Bullcrap_, Dean thought._ The guy chooses now to be modest?_ "And why can't you?" After all the trouble Dean went through to get the stupid bags of blood, the least he could do was accept it and release the obligation Dean felt on his shoulders.

Cas took a deep breath before answering, although this did nothing but make the smell of fresh blood flow through his nostrils.

"I can't accept this because-" he hesitated. He tried to think of a better excuse as to why he couldn't accept the kind offering. He figured that saying that accepting free blood from a mortal whilst his brethren had to vigorously hunt for their share was unfair and wrong, but that seemed like a weak argument. They would smell the blood on him, that was for sure, but it's not like he could share the blood with them either. He knew that they would demand to know where it came from. Lying wasn't an option, since vampires could always tell when you tried to pull a fast one on them.

"On second thought," Cas began. He decided that he could use a vacation away from the pack for a little bit. "I guess I could take these off of your hands..." He knew that accepting the blood meant that he would have to distance himself from the nest for a while, and he knew he would gladly do it. He couldn't let them find out about Dean, he just couldn't. Dean was_ his_ human. He felt a weird sort of obligation towards the strange mortal, and so he would protect him from his fellow vampires.

Dean let out a sigh of relief. Now he wouldn't have to try and return the blood and face Sam's ridicule. He could just feel the obligation lifting off of his shoulders.

"Enjoy it," Dean said, turning around to leave. He took a step away from the vampire only to halt when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait where um," Dean turned back around to look at Cas, just in time to see him pull back his hand quickly. And was it just his imagination, or did he see a hint of pink blush stain Cas' cheeks? "Where are you going?" Cas continued.

Dean cleared his throat and said, "Back to my motel room. Why?" He furrowed his brow and stared at the peculiar vampire, who currently refused to make eye contact.

"I was just wondering," Cas timidly said as he stared at the ground. He couldn't exactly understand why he was so shy all of a sudden. "I was wondering if it was possible for me to accompany you, so that I may enjoy your kind gift in peace, far from my family." He didn't bother to go into detail about how severe the consequences would be if they were to be discovered casually sharing blood.

There was a moment of silence as Dean contemplated his choices. He could either deny the vampire entry, thus not fully relieving his obligation, or he could put his trust into the creature and risk his own safety. Cas lifted his head up to look at Dean in anticipation of an answer, and Dean chewed his lip slightly as he thought. As he looked into Cas' pleading eyes, he noticed something. No where in the deep blue orbs was there any trace of the hatred that was evident yesterday. The more he stared into his eyes, the more compassionate and willing to help he felt.

Finally he had come to a decision. "Alright, alright," Dean said, bringing his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Sure. You can come over for a little blood tea party or whatever." Dean knew that Sam would be all over his case about how idiotic it would be to invite the enemy into your base, but he couldn't worry about that now. His keen senses were on hyper-drive now, patiently waiting for Cas to give him even half a reason for him not to trust him.

Cas smirked at Dean's sarcasm, but he was relieved nevertheless. He was so relieved, in fact, that he couldn't help that his small smile grew into a real one. The big toothy grin that spread across his face was close to radiant, and Dean couldn't help but blush and smile himself, and then scold himself internally for being so girly.

"Welp," Dean said as he clapped his hands together, "We better get a move on while the sun's still up. You know what they say."

Cas tilted his head, causing Dean to involuntarily giggle. "And what might that be?" he asked.

Dean took a step forward, towards Cas' ear. As a reflex, Cas sucked in a gulp of breath. He was use to being the on who got close to people an intimidated them, not the other way around.

"The freaks come out at night," Dean whispered in his ear. He turned around and started towards the direction of his motel as Cas released the breath he was holding. As he followed Dean, he smiled a small smile to himself as he felt a jolt of pride rise up inside of him as he realized he was indeed, one of those freaks.


	5. Apparently, Vampires Enjoy Spongebob

"How is it probable that a talking sponge can befriend a sea star?"

The question made Dean look up from the newspaper he was reading. When he looked up he saw a cross legged vampire sitting on his bed, whose mouth was completely covered in blood from the bag he was drinking out of. He waved the question off as freakin' stupid and instead of answering it he got up walked over to Cas.

He dared to take a glance at the screen and saw what he was talking about. "Why are you watching this bullcrap?" he said as he snatched the remote out if his hands.

Cas knit his eyebrows together, for he had been mildly enjoying the program, but he still didn't complain as he changed the channel. He had decided earlier that if he was going to spend the day with Dean and down the bags of blood, he might as well be comfortable, and so he leaned into the headboard of the bed a little bit more.

Dean flicked through the channels, giving each one of them three seconds to prove themselves worthy of watching, until he finally settled on one.

"Here's uh, something," he said as he went to the guide to find the name of the program, "It's called Duck Dynasty, I guess."

Cas nodded his head in silent agreement and patted the spot next to him with his free hand, the one that wasn't holding the precious blood.

"Sit down with me Dean," he said, not looking away from the screen.

Dean looked down at the spot with uncertainty. Sitting down next to an obviously hungry blood sucker, when he himself was full of blood, wasn't exactly the best idea. Despite the voice in his head yelling _heck no_ he still sat down because hey, this was Cas.

He couldn't exactly place it, or even determine exactly what "it" was, but all he knew was that him and Cas had "it", whatever it was. In simpler terms, he felt a strange sense of trust within Cas, as if he had known him for way longer than he had. And so he sat down and even kicked his shoes off. Might as well get comfy while watching TV right?

Beside him, Cas was trying to sort out a whirlwind of thoughts. _Why is this human being so trusting towards me?_ he thought. Just by Dean's posture and the fact that he went walking through forests with weird knives and guns was enough to let Cas know that he was obviously a hunter. Knowing this made Cas a bit uncomfortable, another feeling he did not like. _What could he be planning?_ he thought. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was as if he was being lured into some sort of trap. With this in mind he decided that he would have to be careful with what he chose to do or say to Dean.

* * *

Dean woke up with a start. Not only was he confused about where he was, but he had an exceptionally hard time breathing. Something heavy was on his chest and his eyes couldn't focus fast enough for him to make out what it was.

Slowly, a giant ball of dark brown hair started to come into view, along with the TV and the rest of the interior of the motel room. His body relaxed when he realized it was just Cas' head on his chest and also his arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

And then his body tensed up when he realized that it was _freakin' Cas' head on his chest and also his arm wrapped tightly around his waist. _

Dean knew that vampires did a lot of crap, drinking the blood of innocents being one them. He knew that they hunted for prey and stayed in packs like the animals they were, really he understood. But never, ever, in a million years would he have guessed that a vampire as fear inducing as Cas would stoop so low as to _cuddle_, and with a human no less.

The thought made his face scrunch up, and then his mind presented him the details of his current predicament. He had to pee, badly, but he was pretty sure that moving from a sleeping vampire's possessive grasp was a felony. He didn't want to wake Cas up, half to respect Cas' nap and half to save his own skin from being bitten by a startled vampire who arose before he was suppose to. His mind weighed the pros and cons of his situation for a while.

Pee and get bitten, don't pee and stay alive.

Pee or stay alive.

Get bitten or don't pee.

He couldn't remember the last decision he made that was this difficult. Before he could fully make a decision, Cas, thankfully, started to stir on his own. He shifted once, twice, three times until he finally let go of Dean's waist. He slowly started to rise and Dean wasted no time before he was up and hurrying to the bathroom.

As he stretched, Cas mentally scolded himself for his unconscious actions. He never even slept by anyone in the nest, so where did the cuddling come from? He blamed it on the fact that he was probably just so full from all of that warm blood he had had a couple of hours ago and that somehow, it had made him feel the need to snuggle.

He contemplated slipping out and going back to the forest while Dean was relieving himself but decided against it. He knew his fellow vampires would be able to smell the blood on him, heck _he_ could even smell the blood on him, so he had no other choice but to wait it out with Dean for the time being. He laid back down on the bed and watched TV, although he didn't pay attention to it.

When Dean came out of the bathroom he found Cas lying there with his eyes closed, presumably sleeping. He reasoned that he was a decent length away from the dozing vamp, so it was as safe a time as any to wake him up. He clapped his hands loudly to get his attention, and that's exactly what he got. Maybe even a bit more than he wanted.

As soon as he clapped his hands, Cas involuntarily jumped up from his resting position and was in front of Dean's face in a split second. The unexpected reaction caused Dean to jumped back a few feet and nearly jump out of his skin.

"What the-" he yelled before he tripped and slammed into a wall. Cas was curious as to why he looked so startled, and then he remembered that humans don't have such excellent reaction time.

"Did I frighten you, Dean?" he said with a smirk.

Dean kept his mask of a casual expression and said. "What? Me? No, course not." He timidly started to walk back to Castiel. "I was just wondering if you wanted to get out of this stuffy motel room is all."

The smile dropped from Cas' face. "Dean I don't think-"

"Oh crap!" Dean said, suddenly realizing. "Vampires can't go in sunlight can they? They'll like, explode or somethin' right? Sorry I brought it up."

"No it's not-"

"It's fine man," Dean interrupted. "We can just stay here if you want, no big deal."

_If he would just shut up for second,_ Cas thought. "The sun is not the problem," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm worried that if I were to be seen in public with a mortal, word would get to my brethren fairly quickly."

"Oh." Dean said, trying to not sound disappointed. "But you can still go in the sun though?"

Cas sighed and explained, "Vampires don't 'explode or something' in the sun. We just get extremely bad sunburns." Dean's cheeks heated up from the embarrassment of being so far off.

"Well then," Dean said as he scratched his head, "No outside for you then."

"Not necessarily," Cas interjected. "It's highly possible for us to venture into the outdoors, if I didn't look like myself."

Dean thought for a second until a slow smile tugged on his lips as he realized what Cas meant. The smile Dean gave him made Cas want to have good ideas more often. _It could light up a room,_ Cas noted.


	6. Nobody Likes a Teacher's Pet

It wasn't cute.

That's what Dean kept telling himself, over and over in his head as he watched Cas pick out various t-shirts. Cas showed him each one and asked about the logos on the front, what they meant, why they were there, etc. Dean tried not to smile after each question, he really did, but each inquiry was just so curious and Cas asked them so seriously and it was just so... Not cute.

They were currently in a nearby drug store, rummaging through hats, shades, and fake mustaches galore. The trenchcoat was left at the motel (after much protest from a certain vampire) because it was decided that it would draw too much attention, which was exactly what they didn't need. So far Cas was in a baseball cap for some team no one heard about anymore, a fake mustache that resembled his own hair color as closely as possible, and before they left Dean was making _sure_ that he swapped the freakin' Hawaiian shirt Cas picked out for a more reasonable one.

Dean would have felt better if he would have picked out a cooler shirt, such as a Batman one. But that wouldn't be right, since he was Batman himself, so Cas needed something like Superman.

"Dean," Cas said while holding up an AC/DC shirt to him, "What about this one?"

A huge grin spread across Dean's face as a glint of pride welled up inside of him. Dean was almost positive that Cas' taste in music was heavily influenced by him, since he was control of the radio and played non-stop tunes while they were at the motel.

"Yeah," Dean said without breaking his grin, "It's perfect Cas."

Cas gave a small smile, happy to have picked something that pleased Dean, and started to put most of the other shirts back. When he finished, he turned around to find Dean, but instead saw a couple of humans he didn't know. He turned around in a circle, trying to see where Dean went, and wondered why he would have left him. He figured he probably had a good reason and would be back soon, so he rummaged through the clothes again as he waited.

A few minutes later, Dean appeared in his peripheral vision and he released a sigh of relief.

"Dude," Dean said as he squirted a clump of sunscreen into his hand, "Don't move."

Cas obeyed and let Dean smear big globs of sunscreen all over his face and neck. It was cold to the touch and tickled with a ferocity that made Cas move and wiggle and try not to laugh. He involuntarily jerked his arm as the sunscreen was put on his neck, knocking the bottle out of Dean's hands and spilling some onto his shirt.

"For crying out loud," Dean said through gritted teeth as he inspected the sunscreen on his shirt, "Freakin' stay still!"

His raised voice got the attention of the people around them, so he lowered it to a whisper. "If you don't let me put this on or you don't put it on yourself you're gonna fry like a pancake as soon as we step outside." To a bystander this probably sounded like a threat, but it was merely the truth.

Cas gave him one of his famous glares and retorted, "Maybe if you didn't have such dainty hands -or at least let me put the cream on myself- we wouldn't be having this petty problem, now would we?"

Dean's eyes got wide at his friend's sudden sass and he blushed lightly. He had dubbed Cas as being sort of stuck up and only able to speak formally, but now he wasn't so sure.

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but a voice from behind him beat him to it.

"Castiel? Is that you?"

Dean watched the blood drawn from Cas' face as he looked past Dean to see who was talking. Dean turned around and saw a blonde haired, blue eyed, and fairly scrawny kid, probably a teenager. He was doing the adorable head tilt thing that Cas did sometimes and Dean already did not like him because that was _Cas' _thing, not this random guy's.

"S-Samandriel," Cas said, not daring to step around his human shield that was Dean, "W-what are you doing here?"

Based off of his sudden nervousness, Dean could tell that Cas felt uncomfortable around the guy, and so he could be a potential enemy. He didn't bother to move from his protective stance in front of Cas, rather he gave the stranger in question his best glower.

"I'm picking up sunscreen," the teenager said without breaking eye contact with Cas, barely even noticing Dean, "What are you doing here?"

Cas took in a breath to steady his nerves before answering, "I am getting sunscreen also."

Samandriel knit his eyebrows even closer together. "Is that so?" He shifted his eyes to Dean as if noticing him for the first time, "And who's this?"

Dean looked to Cas for an answer. "I was about to ask that same question," Cas said. "I'm Castiel," he said, shaking Dean's hand, "and you are...?"

Dean's confused expression melted away as Cas' plan dawned on him.

"Oh I'm Dean," he said while shaking Cas' hand for a bit longer than what was deemed necessary, "Thank you so much for the directions to the nearest gas station." Since his back was facing Samandriel, Dean added in a wink for good measure, causing Cas to bite back a grin.

They finally released hands and Dean made his way out of the aisle, deciding that it was best to give the two vamps some privacy. However, as curiosity got the best of him he stayed in earshot and went into the next aisle, reasoning that they couldn't need _that_ much privacy. In the aisle next to theirs he picked an opening in between some cereal boxes so that he could still see what was happening.

There was a long beat of silence. Castiel refused to make eye contact whilst Samamdriel couldn't seem to get enough of it. He watched Cas like a hawk as he fiddled with the buttons on the AC/DC shirt he was wearing, and Dean resisted the urge to go help him get through the silence.

"So..." Cas said, in an attempt to quiet down the extremely loud silence, "See any good shows lately?"

Samandriel snorted instead of answering. "Where have you been Castiel?" He stepped closer to him and Dean's fists clenched. "You smell..." He took a big whiff of breath, "Different."

Cas kept his pulse steady to avoid Samandriel sensing his guilt. He knew what he was smelling was the blood Dean gave him, and he fought off a fond smile as he remembered how good it had been drinking it.

"Perhaps it's the excessive amount of sunscreen I'm wearing," Cas said in his best attempt to be convincing, "It's a different brand from what we usually buy."

Samandriel's glare turned lethal as he stepped so close that he was inches away from Cas' face. "If I didn't know better," he said while Dean tried to contain his anger in the next aisle, "I'd say you smell like blood, brother." He paused. "But I do know better," he said as he took a step back, "And I also know that my nose must be stuffed up because the immense amount of blood it's telling me you've recently digested is impossible, considering what Raphael told us."

Cas kept his curiosity contained and kept his face blank. "Please refresh my memory brother, to which commandment are you referring to?"

Raphael was the feared leader of their pack of vampires, and what he says goes. His demandments ranged from little tips such as always having non-blood stained teeth in public, all the way to the pack not being allowed to drink O- blood in the winter. Of course, Raphael was allowed to break any of his rules, but that was besides the point. Considering that he was the alpha, the oldest living vampire in their regimen, they figured that he was entitled to certain privileges and knew better than most.

Castiel, however, did not think this way in the slightest. He was constantly breaking the small commandments out of spite. He believed that Rapheal was a terrible and cruel leader, and he had good reason to. Raphael's punishments were always extreme and undignified, and everyone knew who his favorites were.

Samandriel was one of those favorites.

"The most recent one," Samandriel said, "He has instilled upon us a blood cleansing. He says that we must go at least one week without a drop of blood, so that we will build up will power and our appreciation for the precious substance will increase."

Castiel clucked his toungue in disapproval. Vampires as old as him were able to go a while without blood, but all of the recently turned vampires would undoubtley suffer great pain from the withdrawl. It was highly unlikely that Rapheal would obey his own laws anyway, so why was he being so unnecessarily difficult?

"Castiel," Samandriel said, breaking through Cas' thoughts. "You know what I have to do now."

Castiel scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, and then his eyes went big in realization.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

Samandriel sighed. "Castiel there are multiple offenses against you at present. You smell as though you've rcently bathed in blood, you've been missing for days, you're socializing with a human, that shirt you're wearing looks ridiculous-"

Cas had to draw the line. "The last two "offenses" you listed aren't even offenses, and how dare you insult my choice of attire." Dean was glad he said something before he got the chance to because he was seconds away from revealing his hiding spot and drop kicking the blonde guy for the both of them.

"I hope you understand why I have to report this to Raphael," Samandriel finished. Dean watched Cas' shoulders tense up, which only confirmed that this was a bad sign.

Cas thought quickly. He had to think of a way to convince Samandriel, one of Rapheal's most trusted play things, to not rat him out. So he thought of a plan.

"Well," Cas said, "What if, theoretically, there was a way I could get you your own share of blood? You wouldn't even have to kill anybody."

Various emotions painted Samandriel's face: confusion, skeptism, suspicion, even slight horror as he realized that Cas wanted him to betray Rapheal, his trusted superior.

Cas had to admit that it wasn't a very good plan.

Instead of answering, Samandriel used his vampiric speed to get out of the store. He moved so fast that it was almost as if he vanished, the rustle of nearby papers being the only proof of him even being there in the first place.

Dean came into the aisle with Cas. Cas' back was turned to him, so didn't see him approach. When Dean put his hand on Cas' shoulder, he jumped a little. Cas whipped around to face whoever was making contact with him, and relaxed when he saw that it was only Dean.

Dean gave his shoulder a light squeeze and said, "It's ok man, don't listen to the little runt. Who does he think he is anyway?"

As he spoke, Cas felt the back of his eyes heat up, and he noticed his heart rate quickening. He tried to concentrate on what Dean was saying, but all he could focus on was the inevitable. He knew that once Raphael caught wind of his rebellion, he'd be hunted down, and that meant any "accomplices" would be severely punished too.

He was endangering Dean. How could he have been so blind? Of course this was bound to happen; it was all his fault. He tried to listen to the encouraging words Dean was saying (didn't he know it was hopeless?) but all he could focus on was protecting Dean, and what their next move would be.

"-all we have to do is make a plan and then we can get through this." Dean gave a gentle smile and released Cas' shoulder. Cas returned the smile as he noticed how Dean had said "we," meaning he would help fight a battle that wasn't his. Cas couldn't tell if he respected that decision or if it just made him worry more.

Nevertheless, the human's optimism in such a dire situation made his insides grow warm, and before he realized what he was doing, his arms were coming up and pulling Dean into a firm hug. It took Dean a few seconds to register exactly what was happening, since Cas moving towards his neck area was never a good sign, but when it clicked he timidly lifted his arms to hug back. It took all of his willpower not to delicately run his fingers through Cas' presumably soft hair, so he couldn't help but grip Cas' shirt to try and restrain his wandering hands.

The hug went on way past the amount of time of an average hug, neither of them willing to let go just yet. Finally, Dean pulled away, but let his arms linger around Cas, and locked his green eyes on Cas' blue ones. Before he spoke he noticed a new emotion in Cas' eyes, but he immediately waved the possibility off because it didn't make sense. Why would Cas, a bajillion year old vampire, feel safe in his arms?

He cleared his throat and said, "They're not gonna get ya you know, not on my watch." Cas looked away and shook his head. "I'm serious," Dean continued with a humorless laugh, "They won't get you because I have a plan."

Cas' eyes flicked back up to see a mischievous smile on Dean's lips.


End file.
